Urological instruments are commonly disinfected by soaking them prior to use in a solution of buffered glutaraldehyde or some other strong disinfecting or sterilizing solution. While such a "cold soaking sterilization" procedure is most frequently associated with urological instruments, it may be used for disinfecting any implements which are not capable of withstanding autoclaving temperatures or cannot conveniently be sterilized by other means. Similar procedures are used for sterilizing or disinfecting dental instruments, hair cutting and styling implements, and the like.
Quite typically, all of the instruments required for a selected medical procedure are placed in a stainless basin containing the disinfecting or sterilizing solution and are simply soaked in the solution for a period of approximately 10 to 20 minutes. Thereafter, the instruments are grasped and lifted from the basin, rinsed, and laid out on a sterile-draped surface in the area of patient examination or operation.
To facilitate removal of the instruments from a soak solution, it has also been a practice to place the instruments in a basket or tray which may in turn be lowered into and lifted from the solution. In such a case, it is important that the entire tray be immersed along with the instruments; otherwise, a portion of the tray (such as a handle) would remain untreated and subsequent contact with that portion might contaminate the treated instruments. The result is that various systems have been devised, notably elaborate and complex, for achieving total tray immersion and increasing the accessibility of the instruments following treatment. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,231,790, rocking arms, toothed wheels, and lugs are provided for shifting the tray between its immersed and extracted positions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,346 discloses spring means for elevating a tray and solenoid latching means for holding it in lowered position, but neither total immersion of the tray nor removability of the tray from the basin are possible. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,556,495 the tray is operatively linked to a hinged cover for the basin, but again, total immersion of the tray, or ease of separability of the tray from the basin (so that the tray may be used as a carrier for transporting instruments from the sterilizing station to the place where the instruments are to be used) are not disclosed. Other U.S. Pat. Nos. illustrative of the state of the art are 1,862,963, 1,187,498, 3,478,758, and 4,196,166.
One aspect of this invention therefore lies in providing a tray and basin combination which is uncomplicated in structure and operation and which at the same time insures complete immersion of the tray and its contents, permits complete removal of the tray from the basin for transporting the treated implements, and is easily operated to shift the tray and its contents from a lowered and fully-immersed position to a raised and readily accessible position without requiring the user to reach into the treatment solution within the basin or to grasp the tray to shift it between its lowered and raised positions.
Briefly, the apparatus includes an open-topped plastic basin having side and bottom walls defining a well for holding a treatment solution, and a tray adapted to be received within the well for supporting articles to be treated. The side walls of the basin have a height substantially greater than the tray to accommodate vertical movement of the tray between raised and lowered positions in the treatment solution. Lifting means are provided for urging the tray into its raised position; in the disclosed embodiment, such lifting means takes the form of air chambers or compartments formed in the tray to provide a buoyancy sufficient to lift the tray and its contents in the fluid medium. For selectively retaining the tray and its contents in lowered position, magnetic anchoring means are provided for overcoming the upward force exerted by the lifting means. The magnetic anchoring means includes a horizontal slide member supported by the bottom wall of the basin and capable of being shifted horizontally between first and second positions of adjustment. The slide member and the underside of the tray are provided with magnetic elements and, when the slide member is in its first position and the tray is lowered, the magnetic elements of the respective parts are aligned in close proximity and function to retain the tray in its lowered position. When the slide member is shifted into its second position, the magnetic elements are shifted out of their positions of attraction, allowing the tray to move upwardly into its raised position. The magnetic elements of at least one of the members (i.e., the slide member or tray) take the form of permanent magnets; where the magnetic elements of both members constitute permanent magnets, such magnets may be arranged to provide a repelling force when the slide member is shifted into its second or extended position, such repelling force supplementing the upward force of the lifting means to promote release and upward travel of the tray and its contents when the treatment process is completed.
Other features, advantages, and objects of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawings.